EARTHQUAKE / The Long Road Back : School May Be Abandoned Because of Quake Damage

The ground beneath Van Gogh Street Elementary School in Granada Hills is so unstable and crisscrossed by fissures that the site will probably have to be abandoned, Los Angeles school officials said Thursday.

Officials predict, however, that the 370-student school will be the only campus to be shut down because of significant quake damage that struck about 100 schools and cost $700 million throughout the sprawling district.

Supt. Sid Thompson announced the opening today of 14 more San Fernando Valley campuses that have been closed since the Jan. 17 quake. Another 33 schools, all in the Valley, remain closed, leaving about 40,000 Los Angeles students out of school for two weeks.

The most severely damaged campuses--two high schools, Kennedy and El Camino Real; four middle schools, Northridge, Lawrence, San Fernando and Frost, and two elementary schools, San Fernando and Van Gogh--have been dubbed the “Big Eight” by school officials because of the severity of damage and uncertainty over when they can reopen.

“I anticipate by Monday morning we can give definitive information on what happens at each of these schools,” Thompson said. “We realize you want your young people back. We will bring them back when it is safe.”

Options include installing mobile classrooms in safe areas, finding alternative space in commercial and other buildings or transferring students to nearby schools.

Doug Brown, director of school facilities, told the school board Thursday that the latest geological survey of Van Gogh presents a bleak picture.

A deep crack snakes its way through the main corridor, and several other fissures are visible throughout the campus. Several deep cracks have broken classroom and hallway floors. The campus has no water.

An ominous sign greets visitors at the entrance to Van Gogh: “Parents: Please Leave Children Outside.”

Principal Maureen Diekmann said she is considering relocating the students to Frost Middle School.

District officials also announced that every school in the district has been given $5 per student to spend on emergency quake-related counseling, health care or the purchase of school supplies. Hard-hit campuses received $15 a student, aid provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Back in Session

The following Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be open today:

* Blythe Street Elementary, Reseda * Calahan Street Elementary, Northridge * Chatsworth Park Elementary, Chatsworth * Germain Street Elementary, Chatsworth * Hale Middle School, Woodland Hills * Kester Avenue Elementary and Magnet School, Van Nuys * Lanai Road Elementary, Encino * Mayall Elementary, North Hills * Morningside Elementary, San Fernando * Napa Street Elementary, Northridge * North Valley Children’s Center, Mission Hills * Reseda Elementary * Valley Alternative, Van Nuys * Vanalden Avenue Elementary and Children’s Center, Reseda

Source: Los Angeles Unified School District